Without trying to extend the thread creep TOO much, I'll just say this...
Canard planforms have been around since before the Wright brothers, so the XP-55 wasn't ground-breaking on basic design principles. Of course, Curtiss-Wright was limited by working with 1940-ish technology and, thirty-odd years later, Burt Rutan had the Swedish Viggen for inspiration. Still, Rutan's first canard design -- the Vari-Viggen -- was stable, unlike the Ascender. Rutan used to demonstrate that by flying a circuit with the stick at full aft travel from the start of the takeoff roll to a full stop after landing. The aircraft's nose would nod up and down but it never fell out of the sky, unlike the XP-55. Or so I've been told.
There was, of course, only one tiny detail that made the difference. The angle of incidence of the Vari-Viggen's canard was such that, when approaching a stall, the canard stalled first, which unloaded the wing, dropped the nose and re-established normal airflow over the canard.
Curtiss-Wright was a very capable aircraft manufacturer, but on this occasion, they just didn't make the mental leap needed. It happens.
And, yes, there were other successful canard designs. I'm just more familiar with Rutan's work.
Doesn't anyone have a cockpit challenge to post?
Glenn